a blast from the past...

work's been crawling along so far this summer... slowly sapping the strength from my body every day at the office such that when i get home from work after the commute i usually don't do much more than eat, nap, play guitar, play with the "see futjai", and eat some more.... BUT, for the past few days i've been making use of the scanner my parents bought while i was away at uw this past term! lookin through old albums n stuff is always fun, and i thought why not use the scanner to preserve these memories and *gasp*...perhaps even share a few? i think i'll maybe do this once every week or so, or whenever i get the chance. here's what i conjured up while at the office today...



cirque du soleil's in vancouver this summer, from July-August, i see their huge blue tents everyday through the skytrain windows on my way to work. cirque's gotten pretty huge over the past few years, with much of their success due to exquisite artistry, dedicated performers, and it's engagingly themed masterpieces. however, i believe the "soul" of cirque du soleil was formed from the dedication of it's earliest performers. ppl don't really rmmbr those early visionaries, the grassroots performers who worked/trained for long hours just to make enough money to buy a baguette! no...but I remember, because i was there! yessiree, me and my lil sister both! we ran away to join the circus long ago, and after enduring many hardships and having proved our talents before countless carnival crowds, we were finally given a shot at auditioning for the then brand new phenomenon known as cirque du soleil...
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but alas, even with all of our hard work, only one of us made it...
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The Neverending Story

i’ve been chewing on some events that have occurred in the past lil while, & now i’ve finally found some time to spit some back out. i apologize in advance if some of it doesn’t quite flow/make sense, a lot of this is taken from fragments/notes recorded here & there throughout my day. there are 2 accounts:

1. The Naive Samaritan
2. Rude Awakening

(WARNING: i originally thought that once i left ‘loo my posts would get shorter & less frequent, but i’ve had so much spare time @ the office this week that i’m actlly posting monstrous amounts, & more often too! hope they don’t bore anyone to death =P)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19 2004 – The Naive Samaritan
(written while @ work)

as is often the case here @ BCIT, there were a lot of leftovers today from a corporate event held here this morning @ the DTC (Downtown Campus). @ first there were just a few pastries on the table so i didn't grab any (trying to be health conscious). then there were sandwiches (nice ones, some w/ shrimp!), then salads, pasta & potato salads, & fruit trays etc... as usual, this made me quite happy & i grabbed 2 sandwiches (didn't wanna stuff myself since i'd already had lunch for the day).

later on ppl would walk by my office on the way to the back table where the food was being kept, & the old office ladies would always say “c'mon raphael, there's lots of food! get some before it's all gone!" now i've never been one to pass on free food, & i've always taken a fair amount whenever it's been offered, but i they must’ve thought i was shy/hesitant because i was rather new @ the office (they prbbly just didn't see all the paper plates/trays in my garbage can!), & one lady actlly came up to me & made an effort to get me to eat more, saying that if I we didn't go on & eat all the food it'd just end up in the trash @ the end of the day. now those who know me will know that the idea of wasted food =( is already enough to make me “sad,” but this time it had different effect.

it'd been about 2 weeks since i started working @ BCIT’s downtown campus, & i took the skytrain to & from work everyday. pretty much every day i'd see @ least one pan-handler or a homeless person looking through garbage cans, etc... i grew up in this city, so this stuff is nothing new to me or anything, but today for some reason, something felt different...

"...it'll just end up in the garbage..."

those words kept ringing inside my head as i sat back down in front of my computer & i wondered “why the heck don't we give it to the hungry people outside??” rather than "forcing" ourselves to eat this food, why not put it to some REAL use & feed those who actually need it? w/ this motivation in mind i got up, headed over to the back table (where the ladies were complaining that they didn't have any utensils to eat their pasta salad with), grabbed a sandwich & headed outside on impulse, in search of someone to offer it to. what happened during the next few minutes was totally unexpected...

usually when i come outside for lunch breaks there are "regulars" i see all the time; the girl who crouches outside the 7-11 on Seymour, the guy who sits cross-legged w/ a cap in front of him along Dunsmuir, but today for some reason there was no one in sight! I walked around for like 10 minutes w/ this sandwich, astounded that i couldn't find a single person asking for money, picking up pop cans, or going through garbage bins in the alley. now i really didn’t wanna seem too patronizing or anything like that, so although there were some “worn out” looking individuals walking around, when they didn’t make eye contact w/ me or seemed like they were headed somewhere, i didn’t wanna just walk up to them assuming they’d want food! i mean, that could be interpreted as an insult, & i wanted to make sure that i gave it to someone who was really in need (yeah i know, how can you really tell? but still, this was a spur of the moment thing…). but today out of all days, a day when i had food to give & was willing to give, why couldn't i find anyone? i even said to myself: “ok God, it’s up to you, make me cross paths w/ someone that i can give this to…”

as i continued wandering around, scanning the streets (almost desperately), something rather obvious came to mind; every day these past 2 weeks, each time I went to work, i passed these people by w/o a thought, & now when i finally decided i wanted to do something to help them, i couldn’t! how ironic is that? God calls us to be ready at ALL times, it’s really not up to us to decide “ok, I’m ready to give now, I can spare a few moments…” we’re full of excuses. i mean, technically, i ALWAYS have something to give (time/money/care/prayer), but we’re just always “too busy”, “too forgetful”, “too etc…”, even when the need is right in front of us. the need is there, and the need is urgent. although i guess it’s better to be willing sometimes rather than to be unwilling all the time, we run the risk of being too late. we’re taught so often to “seize the moment/day”, but always in a context where we’re “seizing” things/opportunities for ourselves. how different would the world be if we “seized” every opportunity to help someone else w/ the same vigor & enthusiasm as if we were capitalizing on something for ourselves? i wonder…

neway, i’d given up & was walking back towards my building when i saw a lady holding a bunch of old paper shopping bags n stuff, picking up garbage scraps out in front amongst a bunch of young people smoking outside the front door. “great!” i thought, so I went up & told her that i worked for bcit & that we'd just had an event & that there was some leftover food. i asked her if she'd like a sandwich, said that i'd brought it outside to give away to somebody who wanted it (security's pretty tight b/c they don’t want ppl coming in/out who aren’t clients/students). she had a blank expression on her face as she mumbled thank you, & i placed it in her hands. her speech was choppy & fast, she had the look & features of a drug addict, & when i caught a glimpse of her arms my suspicions were confirmed. she seemed genuinely thankful, & i was glad that i was able to help. she kept talking & while i was listening to her talk she kept moving around, picking up garbage & stuff. she went on about some stuff for a while & i just stood there & listened for a bit as she kept rambling & moving around. then, all of a sudden as i was saying bye & i was turning to head into the building, i looked @ her hands & the sandwich was gone! she definitely hadn't eaten it while she was talking to me or i would've noticed, & i wondered if maybe she’d put it in one of her bags while i wasn't looking, but it wasn’t. then i rmmbrd that there was a garbage can she was circling while she was talking to me & stuff, it was like 3 feet away. i thought to myself...did she throw it away?! i looked back at her, she was still mumbling as she walked away.

i've heard stories about ppl offering to buy homeless ppl food instead of giving them money, & almost every time they’ll only want cash, (sometimes they won’t accept food cuz they gotta be careful what they eat cuz they don’t have healthcare coverage) for whatever reasons etc. i mean i wasn't totally shocked, but i wondered about the whole time that she kept talking to me & stuff, was she just trying to see if she could get me to give her some cash? guess I’ll never know...

i walked back up to the office, kinda shaking my head @ what had just happened. i tried to tell myself that she hadn’t thrown it away, that she’d just put it in her bag or something & i didn’t catch it, but still, I couldn’t help but feel bad. not just cuz food had gone to waste, but the fact that even though I’d given it to someone on the street w/ good intentions, in an effort to NOT waste it, i had still failed. but, once again i didn’t see where she’d put it, so I could only hope for the best.


however, humanity would have one more opportunity to redeem itself in my eyes today...

i was walking down the stairs from the 2nd floor after work, heading home, & as i looked through the large glass panels that run the length of the building i saw a girl (prbbly around my age, 20-something) sitting on the sidewalk, cap held out, cowering & looking up hopefully @ pedestrians as they walked by. ahh I thought, where had she been earlier? i instantly thought of the sandwiches upstairs; were they still there? had someone thrown them out? i hesitated @ first (it had been a long day & i wanted to go home), but after pausing on the steps for a few seconds, i turned around & ran back up to the office.

the table where the food had been was empty, but i managed to find a tray in my co-worker’s office w/ a single vegetarian s&wich left on it so i grabbed it (don’t worry, he wasn’t saving it!). i ran down the stairs & headed outside, saw the girl, & crossed the street while trying to suppress the goofy smile that was trying to force its way onto my face as a result of the strange excitement i was feeling inside.

i walked up, said hi, & when she looked up i asked her if she’d like a sandwich. she said thank you. i gave her a smile & said i hoped she wouldn’t mind if it was vegetarian & handed it to her. she seemed thankful & i gave her a quick grin before i turned around & headed towards the skytrain station. but before i’d even taken 10 steps up the street, a scrubby looking older guy (prbbly 30ish) caught my eye. he was walking towards me, going the opposite way, heading in the direction of where the girl was sitting. something about the look on his face made him stand out, because i know i normally wouldn’t have noticed him. he had this look, this kind of smirk/sly grin on his face that just immediately caught my attention.

as we passed by each other i wondered, & after a few steps i turned around & looked back @ the spot where the girl had been sitting. sure enough, she was up off the ground, no more sad/pitiful look on her face, & a wicked looking smile crept onto her face when the man walked up to her. they exchanged a few words, kinda smiling/laughing, & when she handed him the sandwich, i started shaking my head. then suddenly another guy appeared, then another! there were 4 of them now standing around talking & smiling. i was on the corner of the street now, about 10 metres away, making sure they didn’t see me watching as I saw them throw occasional glances my way. there were tons of other ppl on the street walkin around still so I just kinda stood there & observed them for a bit. i didn’t really have an idea as to what they were gonna do w/ the sandwich, but from where i stood i didn’t even see anyone holding it anymore. i dunno, perhaps life on the street has evolved to a point where even food can be used to achieve anti-social goals, who knows?

finally i just shook my head, crossed the street & went on my way.
i was disappointed more than anything, not hurt/angry @ having been “tricked”, just felt bad knowing that this time i saw it happen right before my eyes.

during the skytrain ride home, it occurred to me; I’d just gotten a small taste of the kind of sadness that God must feel when He sees us, so many times, blatantly abusing His grace, that free & perfect gift. times where we either throw it away as if it were worthless, or abuse it, tarnishing it & cheapening it. i’d just felt the sting twice in one day (although the first instance is still uncertain).

as disgusted as I was this afternoon (seeing their Machiavellian sneers & watching them snicker smugly), how much more painful is it for a loving father to look upon the same kind of behaviour coming from his own beloved children? makes me think of the book I’m currently reading: “What’s so Amazing About Grace?”, parts where Yancey talks about our “world of ungrace.” how terrible it is, to get this feeling after attempting to dispense grace only to be repaid with ungrace? is that any reason for us to stop showing grace though? well, ungrace never stopped Jesus.

yes, perhaps I should’ve known better. in fact i would never have been so “charitable” in the past, but i think there was a purpose in today’s events, something that i had to be made to see. the effects of some things that i do to others perhaps, things that cause pain & hurt that i’ve never been aware of. now i guess i can say i’ve got a slightly better idea...


THURSDAY, May 20 2004 – Rude Awakening

(at work again, in the afternoon)

got an unexpected call @ 0730 this morning from Diana Denton, Program head for SPCOM over @ UW. Unfortunately, she wasn’t calling cuz she missed me, but rather, she had called to inform me that I wasn’t eligible to graduate @ this summer’s convocation! long story short; i was missing 4 courses, all of which had to be above the 100-level. although i didn’t express it in my tone on the phone, i was slightly pissed. i’d checked diligently to ensure that i’d met all the group A/B reqs & spcom department reqs, but i’d somehow overlooked this one line in the calendar concerning the total number of credits needed to satisfy a 4-year general degree program.

at first i thought to myself: stupid b/s! i’ve already completed all the courses for my major n all the group A/B reqs, the way i saw it, this was just basically saying that i hadn’t paid enough money to graduate yet! details, politcs, greedy university…>=[

but in the end, hey whaddya know, God’s sending me for another ride? hafta wonder, why? i guess i’ll find out. my parents even took the news pretty well actlly. my mom started joking w/ my dad, saying how we’re lucky we found out now instead of having us all fly there, get me all dressed up for the ceremony, n then only to walk across the stage in my grad gown n everything n have the university offcials go “uh oh! sorry…” (lol, that could’ve been pretty damn funny actlly…have me get all pissed n start strangling the president, my mom would open a can ‘o whoop-ass in the audience, hahaha! ah, but I digress…)

i guess in a way it works out; i hadn’t booked my ticket back for convo yet (I was about to do it any day now), so i could save my free roundtrip ticket from HMY for the fall (that’s IF everything w/ those guys pans out as promised, still waiting to get my refunds!). my work contract ends on Aug. 20th which is perfect cuz i’ll get to make money over summer & still have a lil time to relax (guess it was a good thing I didn’t apply for the full-time positions after all). man, w/ the free plane ticket, the timing w/ my summer job, it’s almost like i’m “set-up” for a return to UW? aiyiyi…this could be scary/interesting….

it’s just hitting me now, slowly creeping up on my consciousness as I’m sitting here in my office @ work…the whole idea of having to pack up&go back to the ‘loo for one more term, 4 more courses, feels so weird…i thought it was finally over, that i’d finally be outta there?? can’t help but wonder; what does God have in store for me there? what does He intend on teaching me? or perhaps how will He test me? Use me?

it’s well over 3 months away, but the anxiety’s already hit me: where am I gonna stay? who’ll I live with? what courses to pick? how’s this gonna affect me financially? is this gonna SUCK big-time, or maybe not? only one thing is certain:
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This fall...
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COMING TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU...
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- THE NIPPLE RETURNS-

the nipple at work

k, been pretty busy since i got back, but sadly none of this "busyness" has involved me going out n having fun...weather's been gorgeous too >=( still, i shouldn't complain; got back on saturday, got a call on tuesday to go to work on wednesday morning...so yeh i guess i got what i wanted, cash-flow, although the job was dreadfully boring at first, but it's getting better now that i'm gettin a little more accustomed to my duties/tasks/schedule. take today for example:

Things I did at work today:

8:55am - Walked into BCIT's downtown campus at 555 Seymour St. in downtown Vancouver
- updated lobby powerpoint schedule slides up until May 30th
- ensured rooms booked for this week's events had sufficient seating capacity
- ensured and secured ample storage space for my two sandwiches in the staffroom refrigerator
- ordered catering from Blenz Coffee for May 20/21, as requested for OPMT 0102/0104 classes
- finished downloading Cognos Report for next week's schedule
- updated :song & picture of the moment: on blog

12:00pm - Went for lunch: *ate outside in the sun
*walked around, checked out some music shop on Hastings
*took a little nap in front of the Price-Waterhouse building

1:00pm - Got back to BCIT downtown campus
- put my shirt back on before going back up to the office
- extracted,edited, formatted and distributed tentative schedule for next week
- picked my nose

2:00pm - ordered catering from Maggie's Eatery downstairs for break, as requested by myself
- answered phones inquiries, confirmed room booking for student presentation tomorrow afternoon
- walked up to 5th floor and took a nap

3:22pm - Bored, got everything up to date so far...
- wrote this entry

well whaddya know? i can be productive at work! neway, no time to make any...

3:30pm - whoa...got a call from an instructor just now...
- changed course time for tomorrow's BLAW 3600 class

...yeesh, keeps me on my toes at least. neway, i'm planning to head back into 'loo for convocation some time on June 15th, probably hang around until the 22nd or something like that. anyhow, can't think of much to write right now, (the hobbit lady in the office next door is getting on my nerves again), so that's it for now. back to "work"...

o yeah! and here's a new "episode", actlly it's an old one from my last few days in 'loo, but i didn't have time to put it up until now. check it out! i assure you, it's definitely one to drool over. =P

Home at last…

Whew…ok, it’s barely been 2 days since I’ve returned to the “www” (wild wild west) here in Vancouver, but it’s been pretty nuts…just chilling w/ people, getting reacquainted with this beautiful city, and reintegrating myself into this strange new house that is now home. But before I even bother trying to write about life in Vancouver, for now I’ll tell you a traveler’s tale; an account of my final few days in Ontario, a story with ups and downs, suspense, rejoicing, disappointment, and ultimately redemption. Ready? Here we go…

(!WARNING! long road ahead…)

One Last Adventure

Wednesday, April 28, 2004 – My Last Day in Waterloo

It’d been a pretty busy “last day” in Waterloo: walked w/ two 20lb boxes all the way to the postal outlet to ship them home, walked to school to pick up my grad class photo, and I was sitting in my basement trying to figure out how to return my bed to westcourt when all of a sudden I got some phone calls from last minute sub-letters. This was amazing, as I had pretty much given up on finding a sub-letter this late in the season, so I was pretty happy when the second sub-letter (yes, the second, TWO different people came by to see the place, now that’s tripped out) decided to take the place for $150/month. Hey, it was dirt cheap, but something’s better than nothing right? Also, since he was taking the place furnished, I didn’t have to worry about transporting my mattress back to Westcourt that day. Only catch was that now I had to really rush to pack my stuff up and move out of the place so he could move in (since I was leaving for Vancouver the next morning), and I also needed to find some way to meet up with the guy to give him the keys. This was a bit of a problem, as I was also in a bit of a rush to go for dinner at philthy’s w/ alex wang. Anyway, so I ended up meeting the guy at philthy’s to give him the keys, then it was off to westcourt to chill and help waiki clean a bit while I waited for mike to come back from TO so I could sleep over at his house before he drove me to the airport early the next morning. Unfortunately, it wasn’t till I was at westcourt that I realized I’d left my glasses in the washroom at my old place, and when I called the subletter to see if we could go back and get them he’d already gone back home to London. So, I felt a little stressed, but I guess I could always get my housemate who was staying for summer term to send them back to Vancouver to me.

Mike got back around 0130ish, we went to seagram, just chilled for a bit, then crashed around 2-3ish, expecting to leave the house by 5am to get to the airport in time to check-in for my 0730 departure time flight on HMY Airways…

Thursday, April 29, 2004 – The Day I Was Supposed to Leave Toronto

So…we woke up around 5am, left about 20min. after that, but I wasn’t panicking or anything, we still should’ve had plenty of time to make it to the airport by 0630 or so, under NORMAL circumstances…but for some reason I never seem to find myself in “normal” circumstances, and we hit a massive traffic jam somewhere outside of ‘sauga or something. The 401 eastbound was shutdown to just one lane, and we ended up being stuck bumper-to-bumper for over an hour. We found ways to pass the time by talking about things like whether or not I should run outside and relieve myself on the highway median (I needed to piss real bad), whether the camera man filming the traffic jam for CityTV was mike’s friend phil or not, and how far along we’d moved through the traffic in comparison with the truck in the next lane with the constipated Scooby-Doo doll stuck in the back window. Mike also discovered that at one point in time I was known as “Rodphage”, but that’s another story all together…

we didn’t get to the airport till like 0800, and luckily mike decided he’d park and come in w/ me to the check-in desk b/c most likely I’d have to get on a later flight and he didn’t want me waiting around w/ all my luggage by myself. So we go in, only to find that HMY didn't even have any reps on hand, because the 0730 flight was their only one for the day, they'd packed up and left. That meant that I couldn't even talk to them in person, much less try to get transferred onto a later flight that day. Mike had to go to matthew mark’s (aka dr. rumble) house to do some recording w/ the guys from the ccf house band, so I ended up tagging along w/ them for the rest of the afternoon. While I was there I called their 1-800 number and talked to a rep who told me their next flight out wasn’t till 0730 Friday morning. They said they’d put me on that one, but I’d have to pay the fare difference, which was an additional $250 on top of my $190 ticket!! I promptly said HELLL NO and tried to find a cheaper solution. After discovering that all last minute flights from other airlines for the next day were going for well over $500, I reluctantly called HMY back and paid the $250 to book what they said was “the last seat” on the plane. So, I was obviously a little pissed, but I made the best of it n it was cool chilling in the studio at matt’s basement listening to them record. The previous post was made there (see below), and after the session, just spent the rest of the day around TO, went for dinner w/ mike, gerrome, n anna at the pickle barrel, drove anna home afterwards n then we met up w/ G n went for ice caps, just sat n chilled on the corner of Brimley & Ellesmere for a bit. It was nice: cold drinks, a warm summer night, and two loud and angry chinamen yelling and waving at drivers running yellow lights, two angry chinamen who seemed determined to see some poor sap get t-boned that night. Well luckily nobody got smashed, n after we left mike just took me on a short walking tour of his neighbourhood in north york, showed me the stuff around city hall, empress walk, stuff like that, a pretty nice neighbourhood. Went to sleep around 0230ish.

Friday April 30, 2004 – The Second Day I Was Supposed to Leave Toronto

We woke up at like 0430, not wanting to miss another flight (I was still pissed about the $250), and we go to the airport around 0500. while I was checking in my bags I brought up the fact that I’d been cut short $250 because of my having missed yesterday’s flight. Yes, I knew that it was technically “my fault” (even though the massive traffic jam was unavoidable and unpredictable), but I still felt that $250 was an unjust amount for something that could have easily been treated as a last minute date change (other airlines like westjet have been known to just stick tardy customer’s on later flights, pending seat availability, for something like a $30). The check-in girl was unbelievably rude (no smile, no sympathy at all, she rushed me through check-in so bad I didn’t even have time to stick an address tag on one of my bags!), and so I asked to speak to a supervisor, and she turned out to be no better! My opinion of HMY was pretty negative at this point, and I was tired n beat, and not wanting to make a scene (I just wanted to get home), I just quit arguing n left to go wait at the boarding gate. While walking to the gate, I bumped into 2 girls from my highschool in Vancouver (Bonnie & Jenny). Turns out that they were on the same flight as me, on their way home after having done a 9-day trip to Montreal, TO & Niagara. That was pretty trip too, and as I found out later, I’d find their company invaluable.

The flight was scheduled to leave at 0730 but we didn’t board till 0745. we were sitting in the plane, I was getting ready to pass out, and the plane had already taxied out to the runway…when the captain came on the intercom and said “…we’re having some mechanical problems…it’ll just be a few minutes…” after what seemed like half an hour, we felt the plane turn around, and we were headed back for the terminal. “…we’re getting some mechanics/technicians to look at what seems to be a fuel line problem…once again this should only take a few minutes…” after another 20-or-so minutes we had to deplane.

Sitting in the terminal now, I’m pretty pissed, I’d paid over $400 but I didn’t mind cuz I THOUGHT I was gonna at least get outta here by Friday morning, but now that didn’t seem like it was gonna happen either. They gave us free $10 vouchers to go get food, but that didn’t really do much in the way of appeasement. Here’s where the company’s value kicks in, because if I’d been by myself this whole time I’d have been bored out of my mind, so at least I got to chill n chat w/ some ppl I hadn’t seen/talked to for a long time. Some Korean dude from North York also started talking to us, so he joined our little “group”. After another hour or so, we see the plane leave the terminal “…we’re taking the plane out for some testing, we should hopefully be ready to take-off in the next little while. Thank you for your patience.” 30min. later the plane returns…the flight’s grounded.

I had a few options here, try to get a ticket on another airline (get the entire amount I paid HMY refunded), wait for HMY to put us on another airline if they had seats to spare, or get really pissed off and demand that they let me fly the damn plane home by myself. In the end, I kept my cool and waited…and waited and waited…and the ended up telling us that the next HMY flight they could put us on would be leaving 0145 on Saturday morning. They’d pay for us to stay at the Airport Sheraton, and give us a free lunch and dinner while we were there. After some discussion, we decided we’d take the hotel option. here’s where things got interesting though:

We had to retrieve our baggage and re-check in that night at 2300 if we were going to take the hotel option, so we all went down to the baggage claim area. This was around 1230 in the afternoon, and I was pretty tired, but at least I felt a little better knowing I was getting free lunch and dinner and a room at the Sheraton, so I felt like I was “kind of” getting my $250 worth…so imagine my disdain when I picked up my baggage and found my guitar case damaged! it wasn’t totally ruined, but it had obviously been mistreated and didn’t even have a “fragile” tag on it, there was a big scratch and a chunk gouged out of it. I thought “great! Why? Why now? Crap just keeps on happening!” so I decide to go back to the HMY people at the gate (there’s no more people at the check-in desk, they’ve all left) to complain about the case. I was originally going to just wait until I got back to Vancouver to complain, I was so tired n hungry, but I asked a baggage security for advice and she told me to take care of it right away, so I did. Here’s another time where bumping into bonnie & jenny came in handy, they watched my luggage for me so I wouldn’t have to lug it all back through security to the gate.

When I got to the gate there were 2 separate lines, 1 at the booth, and another lineup for this lady who was just talking to people in the crowd. I tried lining up for both lines, switching back and forth for a bit whenever one line seemed shorter than the other, but in the end I ended up talking to the lady talking to people in the crowd…lucky me! Turns out she was the “boss” there, the Operations Manager. I told her the whole story (about missing the flight, paying the extra $250, now this delay, and my guitar case), and I was pretty nice about it too. She paused for a bit, then looked at me and told me she wouldn’t be able to do anything about my guitar case at the moment, that she needed to get some paperwork for it, but she told me to talk to her about it when I checked in later that night at 2300. I thought to myself…ok…and then the shocker came when she told me that she was empathetic of all I’d gone through, and she gave me here name and number, telling me to call the HMY airways 1-800 number and tell them that she’d authorize a refund for my $250….woohoo!! I can’t tell you how happy that made me feel at that moment…you guys would’ve thought someone had just given me a year’s supply of free steak or something…but man did that ever brighten my day and take a load off my mind! I was practically FLYING back through the terminal, running with my guitar case, back to meet up with jenny, bonnie, and Andrew (the Korean dude) before we checked into the Sheraton.

things kept getting better…the free lunch and dinner they’d promised us was a BUFFET lunch and dinner!! Woohoo!! I had a much needed SHOWER and a good nap, and spent some time just playing my guitar while looking out from my room window which overlooked the city.

(I had some pictures left over in my disposal camera, so I took some shots to document our stay at the Sheraton )

While strumming away n taking in the view, I closed my eyes and thanked God for this whole ordeal, what had started out as something bad, going from worse, to worst had now turned out better than I could’ve imagined; I was getting my money back, I was getting free food, and now instead of flying home all dirty and tired, I would be clean, well-rested and well-fed before flying home.

you could say that it’s just some fluke that things turned out good in the end, and yeah ok sure, it could’ve been. But certain small things seemed to make more sense now, it’s as if I could see why certain things had to have happened. For example, me missing my flight: I wouldn’t have gotten to see/hear the guys do their recording session or chill w/ them for one last day in T.O.; bumping into my highschool friends: having someone to chill with and keep me company to dispel boredom; my guitar case getting damaged: if it had never gotten damaged, I would’ve never gone back up to complain. If I’d never complained, I would’ve never gotten to talk to the Operations Manager, and if it weren’t for me talking to her it’s likely that I would’ve never gotten my $250 back. And there’s more: when I finally talked to her about my guitar case, she told me to go buy a replacement one, and to send them the receipt for reimbursement. So, I’m also getting a new guitar case, so I’ll have the old one which can act as a spare to take camping or whatever, and the new one I can use for traveling (it’s also extra incentive for me to get a new guitar, acoustic/electric? Hahaha). AND for the FINAL bit, that extra perk on top of all these perks, the cherry on top of that sweet mountain of whipped cream…..(drum roll)…..as a result of the extreme delays that we had to put up with, all passengers are going to receive a voucher for a FREE ROUNDTRIP TICKET to anywhere HMY flies! Ahh…looks like I’m going to be coming back for convocation after all? And courtesy of HMY too! Lol, could it be? Yet another chance to find “true love” on the east coast? Lol, this is all too funny now when I look back:

Original ticket ($190)
+ Additional fare charge ($250)
- Free food voucher ($10)
+ Friends to chill with during a flight delay (priceless)
+ Free BUFFET Lunch (priceless)
+ Free BUFFET Dinner (priceless)
+ a hot shower (priceless)
+ a nice nap in a nice hotel room w/ a nice view (priceless)
- Fare refund ($250)
- Free/reimbursed guitar case ($80)
+ Free ticket back to ONT for Convo (priceless)
----------------------------------------------------
k…I don’t know how to figure out this equation, but I’m pretty sure I got a damn good deal out of it! Lol, so there it is folks, my multi-day adventure, man I wonder what it is with me n mishaps eh? Nyeh, until next time…


(o yeah, btw, the flight back at 0145 went ok, took off a bit late, but other than that it was fine)